"You..." Mindy Caldwell had never seen such an audacious homewrecker. Her chest heaved violently with rage, and she instinctively raised her hand, looking like she was about to slap her.
"Mindy Caldwell, don't go too far," Andrea Wyatt warned.
This was a public place, and Mindy Caldwell had her pride to consider. She knew she'd run into a tough opponent today. Andrea Wyatt's stance was clear, she had no proof, and continuing the confrontation would get her nowhere. Still, she had no desire to share a table with Sydney Sawyer, so she grabbed her bag and stood up to leave.
But Sydney Sawyer suddenly shot up and grabbed her shoulder—
And slammed her back down into the chair.
"You're done with the insults, so you think you can just walk away?" Sydney Sawyer loomed over her.
Mindy Caldwell was completely dumbfounded. Across the table, even Andrea Wyatt and Kiara Dillon were stunned silly. None of them had expected her to suddenly get physical, let alone be so aggressive.
'So fierce!'
"Wh-what do you want?" Mindy Caldwell's eyes widened in fear. The grip on her shoulder was excruciating.
"You owe me an apology."
"Miss Sawyer, please don't be angry..." Kiara Dillon hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
Sydney Sawyer scoffed. "You're not the one who was just slandered as a homewrecker, and you're not the one who was called shameless. What right do you have to tell me not to be angry?"
The unspoken message:
'Just shut up!'
Kiara Dillon hadn't expected her to be so blunt. She turned to Andrea Wyatt and tugged on his clothes, but all he said was:
"She should apologize."
The murmurs of the surrounding diners were becoming audible. Mindy Caldwell knew the longer this dragged on, the more humiliated she would be, so she reluctantly uttered:
"I'm sorry."
The moment Sydney Sawyer's fingers loosened from her shoulder, Mindy Caldwell grabbed her bag, shoved past a nearby waiter, and fled with her head down.
Donovan Sheridan clicked his tongue in amazement. "When I saw her at the hospital, she was so timid and shy. I never expected her to be this fierce."
"Fierce?" Sebastian Lockwood scoffed. "She was slandered. Demanding an apology is only natural, isn't it?"
Mindy Caldwell, head lowered, brushed past the two of them.
...
"U-Uncle—" Andrea Wyatt was the first to spot Sebastian Lockwood.
The surrounding diners' attention was already on their table. Following his line of sight, they spotted Sebastian Lockwood and Donovan Sheridan. Both men had such exceptional looks and bearing that they were captivating enough just standing there.
When Kiara Dillon saw Sebastian Lockwood, her face turned pale.
Sydney Sawyer, on the other hand, was mortified and anxious. She wished she could bury her head under the table. Her scalp tingled with dread, her legs felt like jelly, and her fingers picked at the fabric of her clothes. It was a public humiliation of epic proportions.
As he drew closer, she braced herself and greeted them. "Uncle, Dr. Shaw, what a coincidence. Are you here for dinner too?"
"Not a coincidence. Andrea invited me," Sebastian Lockwood replied.
Sydney Sawyer shot a look at Andrea Wyatt:
'Are you an idiot?'
'Why would you invite him?'
'Did you think this situation wasn't humiliating enough? Did you ask him to come just to add insult to injury?'
"Uncle, when did you get here? You didn't tell me you were coming, I would have gone out to meet you." It wasn't just Sydney; at that moment, Andrea Wyatt also felt like a complete moron.
"I haven't been here long," Sebastian Lockwood scoffed. "Just long enough to catch the show."
"..."
"Didn't you say it would be just three of us, including me?" His gaze brushed coolly over Kiara Dillon, instantly making her scalp prickle with fear.
"Kiara was just in the neighborhood, so we ran into her by chance..." What else could Andrea Wyatt say? He couldn't very well admit that his girlfriend had brought a friend to pick a fight with Sydney Sawyer.
"So it was a chance encounter. And here I thought you invited me over just so I could watch other people humiliate and slander her."
Sebastian Lockwood was smiling, but Andrea Wyatt was so terrified he nearly dropped to his knees.
'Uncle! I swear to God, that's not what I intended at all!'
Kiara Dillon immediately explained, "Actually, my friend... she didn't mean what she said..."
"Do you know that woman?" Sebastian Lockwood suddenly asked Sydney Sawyer.
The same person who had been so fierce moments ago was now impossibly docile. She immediately shook her head back and forth like a toy drum, looking both obedient and adorable. "Never seen her before."
"In that case, I'm sure she didn't mean it."
After Sebastian Lockwood spoke, Kiara Dillon secretly let out a sigh of relief.
But his next words were merciless, completely shredding what little dignity she had left.
"If this was their first meeting, then there's no old grudge between them. So, unless she's mentally unstable and goes around attacking people at random, she must have been fed some nasty rumors and came here with hostile intentions."
The color instantly drained from Kiara Dillon's face, leaving her looking pitiful and tragic.
"In this world, playing the innocent victim and putting on a pitiful, bullied expression doesn't automatically make you right. And don't be so clever as to think you can treat everyone like an idiot."
After speaking, Sebastian Lockwood looked at Andrea Wyatt. "Do you think there's any point in continuing this meal?"
Andrea Wyatt wanted to explain but didn't know how to start.
"Since your intentions for inviting me today were good, and because we're in public, I'll spare you any more embarrassment. I hope you can handle your own affairs without dragging innocent people into them."
"I know." Andrea Wyatt felt utterly wronged and helpless today.
Donovan Sheridan nearly burst out laughing.
'This guy is so shameless. Andrea sets up an opportunity, and you swoop in to play the hero. The kid was just being an idiot and got used by someone; it's not like he had any malicious intent.'
Meanwhile, Sydney Sawyer, whose crush had just stood up for her, kept her head down, secretly overjoyed.
'Being the elder is great,' she thought. 'You can lecture people with such an imposing air, a powerful presence... it's so impressive.'